This invention is in the field of oil recovery from bodies of water wherein a vessel gathers surface water and oil for separation.
It is known in the art to provide buoyant vessels with means for gathering films of oil spilled on bodies of water along with some of the surface water and provide means for gravity separation of the oil from the water. Such prior vessels, however, have not been wholly successful and were unable to effect separation at a sufficiently high rate to be fully economical.